The total cost of health care in the United States was $1.26 trillion in 2010, according to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Hospital inpatient costs accounted for the largest share (31%) of the total, which applies to the civilian, noninstitutionalized population. Ambulatory care provided by office-based providers (23.3%) and hospital outpatient departments (9%) accounted for just over 32% of spending, while 21.4% was attributable to the cost of prescription medications, according to the AHRQ report.
Smaller portions of total U.S. spending went to dental services (6.6%), emergency department care (3.8%), home health care (3.2%), and other medical services and equipment (1.7%).
The data for the report came from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative longitudinal survey.
